{"id":389199,"date":"2024-04-29T21:51:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T21:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=389199"},"modified":"2024-04-29T23:04:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T23:04:51","slug":"slater-urges-nrl-to-be-careful-amid-calls-for-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=389199","title":{"rendered":"Slater urges NRL to 'be careful' amid calls for change"},"content":{"rendered":"

B\ufeffilly Slater<\/a> has warned the NRL to "be careful" when considering any changes to the kick-off, with concerns raised after an ugly incident on Anzac Day.<\/p>\n

In the opening seconds of the Dragons-Roosters clash on Thursday afternoon, Moses Suli<\/a> was knocked out after a brutal collision with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.<\/p>\n

The hulking centre was laid out on the Allianz Stadium turf for a number of minutes before being assisted from the field, and will now miss the side's clash with Cronulla.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Gould goes berserk over 'stupid' NRL rule changes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> Awkward vision exposes lingering Swans tension<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Tyson gives up sex, marijuana ahead of Paul fight\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\ufeffTrent Robinson acknowledged post-game that a change could be necessary<\/a>, while others have debated that taking away the back-fence carries could ruin the fabric of the sport, despite the higher risk of head injury.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Wide World of Sports' Billy Slater Podcast<\/em><\/a>, the legendary Storm fullback \ufeffconceded the game's decision makers face a balancing act in regards to player welfare in the wake of the sickening incident with Suli.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"Unfortunately, the Moses Suli incident isn't a one-off and that's why the discussion is worthy," Slater said.<\/p>\n

"We need to acknowledge that and we need to consider the future of that part of our game. I love the kick-off, I love what our game brings – but it's important to have a balanced decision around these sorts of discussions.<\/p>\n

"At the end of the day, it is creating a lot of injuries and a lot of injuries in terms of concussions and we would be negligent to not consider changing it.<\/p>\n

"We need to still hold the fabric of our game … there is a balance to it."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

There have been calls for the kick-off to be scrapped entirely and restarts to simply change to a play-the-ball 10 metres out, while others believe a shorter kick-off could be the best middle ground to limit the impact.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/the-billy-slater-podcast\/billy-responds-to-questions-about-ponga-s-role-wit\/embed<\/a><\/p>\n

Slater refused to add fuel to the fire, but did warn the NRL to remain cautious when considering what would be a major change to the sport.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"I don't know – I haven't given it serious thought and I'd be throwing something out there right now without considering the ramifications and flow-on effect," he said.<\/p>\n

"One thing I do understand is that when you change something in our game \u2026 the game will change somewhere else.<\/p>\n

"You might plug a hole here, but it might release another two holes over there. You've got to be careful and really think thoroughly about the decisions you make.<\/p>\n

"I wouldn't be doing it any justice throwing out ideas."\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"'What<\/p>\n

League legend Paul Gallen believes the kick-off shouldn't be changed.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"I don't want to see it taken out of the game, it was actually his (Suli) own player that pushed him into contact and that's why he lost where his head was going," he said on Nine's 100% Footy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

100% Footy is now available as a podcast! Subscribe\/follow via<\/strong><\/em> Apple<\/strong><\/em><\/a>,<\/strong><\/em> Spotify<\/strong><\/em><\/a> or<\/strong><\/em> Google Podcasts<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

"When the big, strong, tough men are \ufeffrunning as hard at each other at times there's going to be accidents and things are going to go wrong.<\/p>\n

"You don't have to punish everyone, you don't have to change the game.<\/p>\n

"At times things are just going to go wrong. I think everyone who plays the game accepts that, I think everyone who watches the game can accept it, those who are running the game need to accept it as well.<\/p>\n

"Field position is such an important thing in this game. How do we start it? Do we do a short kick-off? Then the attacking team gets the ball and all of a sudden they're on the halfway line and by the end of that set they've got an attacking kick."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

B\ufeffilly Slater has warned the NRL to "be careful" when considering any changes to the kick-off, with concerns raised after an ugly incident on Anzac […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":389201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389199"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=389199"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":389204,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389199\/revisions\/389204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/389201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=389199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=389199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=389199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}